If you thirst for a small, quiet "hometown" with a main street, here are a few places with appeal.

The village of Suffern, situated in the western part, near the border with Orange County and New Jersey, has an old-timey feel, with plenty of small shops, old buildings, and little side streets. It's the place where the Avon cosmetics company was born (it was originally called The California Perfume Company), and the firm is in the midst of expanding to stay at its original site right in the middle of town. Here's where you'll find the only old movie theater still in operation in Rockland. The Lafayette Theater presents films without intermission and advertisements, and every Friday and Saturday, there's live music in the balcony from a mighty Wurlitzer organ!

Suffern's old-fashioned charm is a little deceptive, because it's also a major commuter transportation hub. The intersection of the NY State Thruway with Routes 17 and 287 is located here, and the Suffern train station is one of the major stops on the rail line that runs toward the Jersey crossings to mid-town and downtown Manhattan. Other stops for train-lovers are Sloatsburg, Spring Valley, Nanuet, and Pearl River.

Pearl River, billed "The Town of Friendly People" by its denizens, is a hamlet near the New Jersey border. Commuters still run to catch the train at the old station near the post office, there's a cannon in the little park adjoining the station (with a war memorial), and up on Central Avenue, there's a big field with a bandstand. The annual Fourth of July fireworks show is legendary, and the St. Patrick's Day Parade is said to be second in size only to the famous Manhattan parade.

Congers is a tiny hamlet framed by several small lakes. There are Victorians, cottages, bungalows, and colonials as well as more contemporary houses. The Main Street area is undergoing a facelift, with the addition of new sidewalks and old-fashioned street lights, and the old train station is in the midst of being remodeled into a community center. Rick's Club American, a great rib place, and The Last Chance Saloon, one of the funkiest taverns in the area, are located here!

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